Detectives and Criminal Investigators
Conduct investigations related to suspected violations of federal, state, or local laws to prevent or solve crimes.
- Median pay
- $93,790
- Doing it now
- 120,500
- By 2035
- Up 0.2%
- Usually needs
- High school diploma or equivalent
a year
across the country
7,800 openings a year
to get in
What the work involves
- Check victims for signs of life, such as breathing and pulse.
- Obtain facts or statements from complainants, witnesses, and accused persons and record interviews, using recording device.
- Secure deceased body and obtain evidence from it, preventing bystanders from tampering with it prior to medical examiner's arrival.
- Record progress of investigation, maintain informational files on suspects, and submit reports to commanding officer or magistrate to authorize warrants.
- Prepare charges or responses to charges, or information for court cases, according to formalized procedures.
- Preserve, process, and analyze items of evidence obtained from crime scenes and suspects, placing them in proper containers and destroying evidence no longer needed.
- Obtain summary of incident from officer in charge at crime scene, taking care to avoid disturbing evidence.
What to study
The fields of study the Department of Education links to this occupation, most widely taught first.
- Criminal Justice and CorrectionsSee 956 colleges that teach it
- Security Science and TechnologySee 201 colleges that teach it
- Environmental/Natural Resources Management and PolicySee 99 colleges that teach it
- Intelligence, Command Control and Information OperationsSee 40 colleges that teach it
Who it suits
O*NET scores every occupation on six interest dimensions. This one leans hardest on these three.
Analytical and curious
Organised and precise
Hands-on and practical
Careers like this one
Where this comes from: the description and the task list are O*NET, which the Department of Labor maintains. Pay, workforce size, outlook and the education normally needed are the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections programme, 2025 wages and 2025 to 2035 projections. Half of them earn more than $93,790 a year, which means half earn less, and what you would earn depends on where you work and how long you have been doing it. The fields of study come from the National Center for Education Statistics crosswalk.